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Ever wanted to ask a sports personality a question? Now’s your chance. They will answer readers’ questions in The Denver Post’s “Fan Mail” feature.

Keep an eye out for next week’s installment. Suggest a subject and send your Qs in an email to fanmail@denverpost.com.

What do you think is more important to some of the younger players: Fast
starts, especially Matt Donovan and Drew Shore, more ice time compared to last
year, or merely another year in the WCHA?

–JT, Denver

Gwozdecky: Thanks JT. No matter what class, every player wants to have a fast start to his season.

As you may be aware, our freshmen play right away and are given plenty of opportunities to contribute
immediately. They want to prove they can contribute and as coaches we encourage their development with plenty of ice time.

When a freshmen struggles, it is usually because he is still in the transitional phase of adapting to
the bigger, faster and quicker college game. We work with him to focus on the process rather than
the outcome. Even with the superb talent that assistant coaches Steve Miller and Derek Lalonde
recruit to our program, it is rare that a freshman starts off the season with consistent success.

The odds are that the veteran player has a better chance of starting out quicker due to his seasons of
experience as well as his off-seasons of training under the finest strength and conditioning coach in
college hockey.

Coach Gwoz, as a long-time season ticket holder, I appreciate the job
that you and your staff have done here in Denver (both on the ice and in
the classroom). You run a class program. Peg Bradley-Doppes needs to
get your lifetime contract extension done now! College hockey has
changed so much. Do you have a roster formula for players you need,
short-term (high NHL draft pick) players vs. four-year players? I think
a team needs both, but what’s the right mix?

–Scott Williams, Westminster

Scott, I appreciate your kind words. In the past decade we’ve successfully adjusted our recruiting philosophy because of the consequences of the
NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Our coaching staff is in constant communication with our student-athletes, their families and the
NHL organizations who own their draft rights. Assistant coaches Steve Miller and Derek Lalonde have
done magnificient work in projecting the development of our current roster of players as well as balancing
and forecasting our incoming student-athletes from as far out as four years.

We recruit a student-athlete who fits the right profile for our University and our hockey program, not
where he is projected in the NHL draft. We want all of our players to receive their degree and help
us win championships. But with training and practices that enhance their skill level along with
opportunities of playing regularly as a freshman, many of our players accelerate their development while
at DU. And their development does not go unnoticed by the NHL.

With the average age of the NHL getting
younger every year, it is only natural that the best college players will continually be given opportunities
to start their professional careers long before they graduate.

Coach Gwozdecky, after three straight first-round exits in the NCAA tournament, what do you think is the key for DU to get over the hump and make it back to the Frozen Four?

–Kenny Metcalfe, Denver

Great question, Kenny. There is no secret to getting to the Frozen Four and winning a national championship. A team must be playing their best hockey at the peak time of the college hockey season. Part of playing at your best
is being healthy. Many good teams have had their seasons derailed because of untimely injuries that result in
subtle changes to a lineup, chemistry and team dynamics. We were a great example of that last season.

Any coach who has won a national title will tell you that there is a certain amount of luck involved
in winning the “single elimination” NCAA tournament format. It certainly stands to reason that the
more a team gets into the tournament, the better the team’s chances of winning it are.

One of our goals every year is to play our way into the national tournament and then peak at the right time to win
it all. In this past decade we have twice been successful at that while barely missing out on three other
occasions.

I have been watching the Pioneers for many years. Over the last several
years, on offense we seem to be dumping the puck in the corners and
scrumming with defensemen. It seems like a lot of other top teams such
as Boston College and North Dakota skate the puck into the offensive
zone. Have we considered changing or offense and taking advantage of our
smaller size and speed? Good luck this season.

–Tim, Basking Ridge, N.J. (’77 DU grad)

Good analysis, Tim. I believe the overall speed and quickness of our 2010-11 team is better than it has been in many years.

Although we emphasize a strong forechecking game, our philosophy has always been about puck
possession that relies on speed and a strong transition game to create our offense. We thrive on an up
tempo game and love teams that play a similar style to ours.

There are teams that refuse to get into an up-tempo game with us. They will continually shoot the puck
into our zone from neutral ice and offer only limited pressure as we begin to breakout. The real battle
begins when we attempt to carry the puck through the neutral zone and into their end zone. They will
often defend their blue line with superior numbers forcing us into the only safe option. As a result we
must be patient and place the puck in behind our opponent and force them into foot races for puck
retrieval. If our puck placement is correct and the timing is proper, our forwards will win most of the
races. If not, the puck possession scrums with opposing defensemen will occur.

Do you plan to rotate goalies the entire year or are you going to
evaluate Sam and Adam’s performances on a weekly basis before you make a
decision? Thanks for taking questions. And GO PIOS!

–Miller Baird, Denver

Miller, you sound like a former goaltender! In recent years we’ve use different goaltending systems with great success.
During the past off-season we examined our goaltending and determined that both goaltenders needed
to have opportunities in the early part of our schedule to help us determine a plan for the stretch run
and national tournament play.

We plan on rotating Adam and Sam every series through the first 8-10
games of the schedule before we determine a set system. Adam will play Friday games and Sam will
play on Saturdays. So far both have played well as evidenced by their performances last weekend at the University of Vermont.

Why can’t the western college teams beat the eastern college teams
anymore? The WCHA used to rule the nest. Also, I’m glad Bemidji State is in a better conference, but isn’t a 12-team conference too big? I would like to see the west and east schools play each other during the season.
Thank you for taking my questions. And go Fighting Sioux!

–Bill Gauslow, Denver (originally from Grand Forks, N.D.)

Bill, the WCHA annually has a winning record when playing against their eastern opponents. I do agree with you that the dominance of some western schools is now a part of history. Gone are the
days when a program could go undefeated. There are just too many great Universities committed to
excelling in the sport of hockey.

Recruiting the best student-athletes is no longer just a phone call. Larger
recruiting budgets for travel, talented recruiters, excellent coaches and modern facilities have evened the
playing field. We must also consider the tremendous number of talented underclassmen that the WCHA
loses every year to the professional ranks. All of these factors have allowed some of the eastern schools
to catch up.

One of the reasons that the WCHA does not play more games against eastern opponents is our
28-game league schedule. The NCAA allows a maximum of 34 regular season games. With only 6 games
available to schedule non-conference opponents, many traditional eastern rivals cannot be scheduled on
a yearly basis.

Hi Coach, CC fan here. But think it’s great that Colorado has two of
the top programs in the country. CC-DU games are always fun. My question
is: With Penn State adding Division I hockey in the next couple of
years, do you think there is a danger of the Big Ten hockey schools
breaking away from the WCHA/CCHA to form their own hockey conference?

–Jim, Colorado Springs

What do you think about Penn State starting a Division I program? And
what about early conversation that Penn State is trying to lure
Wisconsin and Minnesota away from from the WCHA? Does the WCHA need to
make some early moves to protect itself? Do you predict some of the same
changes in college hockey that we saw in college football?

–Rich

Jim and Rich, the Big Ten Conference has stated their intention to sponsor a Big Ten hockey conference once
Penn State officially begins Division I play. It is estimated they would start for the 2014-
2015 season.

All six of the Big Ten hockey schools (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and
Penn State) will be obligated to play in the Big Ten hockey conference no matter what their loyalties are
to their current leagues.

The WCHA is determined to maintain its status as the best college hockey conference in the country. The
WCHA is currently reviewing and discussing all future strategies for scheduling and expansion.

Coach, thanks for taking the time to answer questions from the fans.
With Minnesota and Wisconsin leaving the WCHA, why doesn’t DU form a
conference with Miami, Notre Dame, CC, Minnesota-Duluth and North
Dakota?

–DG, Houston

Assuming that a separate Big 10 Hockey Conference becomes reality in
2014 (which would remove Minnesota and Wisconsin from the WCHA), can DU
afford to stay in a reduced WCHA, or will it proactively look to build
an alternative power league from a select group of remaining non-Big 10
hockey powerhouses?

–Tom, Denver

Thanks DG, Tom. It is very difficult to predict how the Big Ten hockey conference will affect college hockey. A
school with the national profile of Penn State will certainly trigger other Division I schools to
examine Division I hockey. Conference re-alignment among current hockey schools could also
be a possibility.

How has coaching and recruiting in college hockey changed now that more
players are leaving earlier for the pros? It is great having higher
caliber talent in college hockey, but it is frustrating that these
players are often around for only one or two seasons and then they are
gone. Would you prefer to have a lesser talented player that you know
you will probably have for four years? Or a super talented player that
you will be lucky to have around for two years?

–Bill Johnson, Wheat Ridge

Bill, we certainly could recruit lesser talent and have them at DU for four years. But I am not
confident that our record would be good enough to allow me to be around to see them graduate!

Coach G: Do you ever watch the Jr. Pioneers practice and play as a way
of scouting future prospects? Are any of your current players former
Jr. Pioneers?

–Ethan, Denver

Ethan, it seems you have been paying close attention to our recruiting of Colorado-born players. Our
current roster of 27 players consists of seven players from the state of Colorado; that’s more players from
the state of Colorado than we have from the entire country of Canada!

All of our Colorado players grew up playing youth hockey in our state. In their mid-teens they left
Colorado to play Junior A hockey or were invited to play with the prestigious U.S. National Team
Development Program in order to receive daily ice time, stronger competition, more advanced training
and coaching as well as increased exposure to college coaches.

Brothers Drew and Nick Shore are products of the DU “Jr. Pioneers” Youth Hockey Association. Many of our former Pioneer hockey greats such as Angelo Ricci, Nick Larson, Shawn Kurulak, Zach Blom, Rod Summers and Brian Gifford are
coaching youth hockey locally and developing future players for college hockey.